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Times of Huntington-Northport

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METRO photo

As winter enters it’s peak, drivers should be ever-conscious of the dangers the season poises to drivers and pedestrians.

The short winter days provide limited sunlight and therefore, limited visibility to drivers returning home during rush hour. With the sun setting at the early time, most people drive home from work in the hazy twilight. The early sunset often means that many are forced to drive towards the intolerable glare of the sun, blinding drivers who forgot their sunglasses.

Flurries crowd the window and accumulate on the ground. In the following days thirty degree weather is projected after last weeks hiatus of slightly warmer temperatures. Snow is in the forecast.

During times like these, it is imperative that we practice defensive driving. This means putting our blinkers on the ensure others can see our vehicles (even if there is next car is far away, remember, it is illegal to switch lanes without using your blinker), cleaning the frost off our cars so that it doesn’t blend in with the surroundings, and pumping the break and testing the acceleration on icy days. After snow, the roads are full of salt, moisture, and black ice–all of which affect the traction of the tires on the road.

In neighborhoods, folks who walk their dogs after getting home from work have to do so in the diminishing sunlight. We need to be cautious. As eager as we may be to get home, we must resist the urge to press the accelerator a little more as we round the bend to our homes. Sidewalks are not ubiquitous and dogs aren’t always well-behaved and walking calmly next to their owner. Pedestrians, wear bright, reflective colors, carry flashlights, and to the extent possible, walk on quiet streets.

The dangers to public safety from cold, early, snowy days are, of course, paramount, but the dangers to the state of our vehicles is not to be ignored. To save yourself hundreds in repairs, we must ensure that our vehicle is in top condition.

•Check the tire pressure. The cold weather can cause the air to contract and result in under-inflated tires.

•Clean the exhaust. Condensation build-up can cause the exhaust system to rust.

•Lift the wiper blades upwards off the windshield when it snows so they don’t break. Wipe down the rubber lining of the car door so the rigid rubber doesn’t make it difficult to open in freezing temperatures.

•Let the oil circulate. Oil gets thicker in colder temperatures, so we need to be conscious of allowing time for the oil to warm up or switch to oil with a lower viscosity for the winter.

Enjoy the sight of snow-lined trees and slowly descending flakes, but we should not let the precautions slip from our mind. Drive safely.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Close to six decades after another surgeon general urged a warning label about the link between cancer and smoking, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the current surgeon general, would like to add cancer warnings to labels for alcohol.

The third leading cause of preventable cancers after tobacco and obesity, alcohol increases the risk for at least seven types of cancer, the surgeon general recently wrote.

At the same time, less than half of the American population recognize alcohol as a risk factor for cancer.

As with the prevailing wisdom about smoking decades ago, several doctors and various studies have, until recently, indicated that moderate drinking such as a single glass of red wine for women each day and two glasses for men, have suggested a medical benefit to consuming alcohol.

Dr. Mark Solomon

“We have been misguided all these years by thinking there’s an acceptable amount of alcohol that’s safe enough to recommend,” said Dr. David Rivadeneira, Director of Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Huntington Hospital. 

Any change in required labels for alcohol would have to come from Congress, which would likely face lobbying pressure from the alcohol industry.

Local doctors, however, suggested that the potential increased risk of cancer from alcohol outweighs any potential reduction in the risk related to any cardiovascular incident or stroke.

Dr. Mark Solomon, medical director of St. Charles’ chemical dependency program, called the benefits of alcohol a “myth.”

“Anything you put in your body affects every cell in your body,” said Solomon. “It’s finally coming to the forefront that we should put labels [on alcohol]. Drinking alcohol is not some benign social activity. There are certain risks associated with that, with cancer being one of them.”

Paolo Boffetta, Associate Director for Population Sciences at the Stony Brook Cancer Center, explained that earlier studies, including one that he participated in, that showed a cardiovascular benefit to drinking had various scientific problems.

Those studies didn’t differentiate between people who quit drinking and those who never consumed alcohol.

“The category of a non drinker had an increased risk” that was above what researchers had understood because that group included a mix of people, Boffetta said.

This sampling problem suggested to Boffetta that the results of some of these studies that suggested a cardiovascular health benefit to drinking “were probably not correct.”

Boffetta, who welcomed Dr. Murthy’s recommendation to add cancer risk to a label that already warns consumers who are pregnant or who are operating a car or heavy machinery, urged researchers to continue to study the link between alcohol and cancer.

Protecting health

Dr. David Rivandeneira. Photo courtesy of Northwell Health

Dr. David Rivadeneira, director of Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Huntington who specializes in colorectal cancer, is concerned about the increased incidence of cancer among the younger population.

The current cancer rates are at levels “we’ve never seen before in patients that are less than 50 years old,” said Rivadeneira. “That is very worrisome. The issue of alcohol may have something to do with it.”

Indeed, during the worst of the lockdowns amid the Covid pandemic, some people increased their consumption of alcohol.

“Our current understanding is that alcohol is a chemical that probably has no health benefits whatsoever,” said Rivadeneira. “If anything, it’s detrimental even in small quantities.”

Rivadeneira anticipates the effect of such a discussion of the health consequences of consuming alcohol and of any future labeling on bottles may alter consumer behavior more rapidly than changes in established patterns for smoking decades ago.

“People are more likely to take ownership with regard to their own health,” he said. “They want to be healthier.”

Rivadeneira wants to give patients information that is appropriate and medically sound, giving them the option to decide if they want to incorporate this knowledge into their lifestyle.

Working with their doctors, people can decide on their overall risk profile, based on their family history, other health factors such as their weight and their history through cancer screenings such as mammographies, whether they want to reduce the kind of risk that might tip the scales through alcohol consumption, Rivadeneira said.

“I tell people, ‘You can be proactive or reactive. Here you are, you’ve got to make a decision about what you want to do. Do you want to reduce the chance of cancer and other ailments?’” Rivadeneira said.

A warning and behavior

Dr. Jana Deitch

Doctors believed a warning label on alcoholic products might alter consumer behavior.

“People are more afraid when it’s written down,” said Dr. Jana Deitch, breast surgical oncologist at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown. “If it’s on the bottle, the population will take it more seriously.”

Deitch added that everyone has to decide to what degree they are putting themselves at risk.

“It’s information that’s readily available to the general population” Deitch said.

Solomon suggested that doctors should educate their patients about the dangers of consuming alcohol.

“The medical community and physicians have to be more educated so they can start to relay this to the patient,” said Solomon. “There’ll be some kind of shock to this” because people will indicate that they have been drinking their whole lives. “It’s going to take a long time and it has to start with education from doctors.”

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Metro Creative Connection photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Good cruise ships? Sure, absolutely. Norovirus? Nope, that’s a hard pass!

Unfortunately, residents on Long Island and in many places around the country are battling higher than normal outbreaks of the stomach curdling norovirus, which sometimes afflicts people who are on cruise ships.

Norovirus has been coming “from the community, from nursing homes” and from places where large groups of people congregate, said Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital/ Northwell Health and associate professor of medicine at Hofstra School of Medicine.

Norovirus, with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramping, nausea, headache and chills, is spread through contaminated food, contaminated drinking water, unclean hands and surfaces such as counters or door handles where the virus awaits its next victim.

“It doesn’t take a lot of virus to get somebody ill,” said Popp. The usual incubation period, when someone can be contagious without knowing it, can be a day or two.

People often have these symptoms for anywhere from a day to three days.

At this point, researchers have not produced a vaccine for the virus and treatment for those with the most severe symptoms often involves fluids, either orally or intravenously if a person can’t keep anything in his or her stomach.

People who are most at risk from complications related to norovirus include senior citizens who are in poor health, people with chronic conditions, those who are immunocompromised, or people who become dehydrated quickly, doctors suggested.

When people have numerous and frequent liquid bowel movements, they should realize something is wrong, even if they are younger or in good overall health.

The emergency rooms at hospitals recognize the symptoms of the virus and can often place a person in isolation quickly, reducing the likelihood of other patients developing the illness, Popp added.

Unlike other viruses, norovirus does not respond to hand sanitizer. The virus dies in response to products containing hydrogen peroxide or to a thorough washing with soap and water.

“During COVID we had people who were a lot more careful about these sorts of protection measures,” said Popp. “Now, we’re back to baseline carelessness. People don’t wash their hands as much as they should.”

Higher reporting

Dr. Sharon Nachmann, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, believes norovirus cases have increased in part because of more testing.

“If you ask families in the past, they would say, ‘we’ve all had that stomach bug. Our relatives had it.’ No one would have said, ‘Let me go to the hospital to get tested.’”

Rapid testing means that doctors can get results quickly, leading to more immediate diagnosis and isolation.

Nachmann added that this virus is particularly infectious, with a potential patient needing only 10 particles to become sick, compared with a couple of thousand for infections from other pathogens.

Stay home!

Doctors urged those who are experiencing norovirus symptoms to work remotely, if at all possible.

“We don’t want you at work if you have six watery stools a day,” said Nachmann. “You need to stay close to a bathroom and close to home. Whatever you have, nobody wants it.”

Indeed, even at home, doctors urged people to try to isolate from family members as much as possible.

“You don’t want everyone using the same toilet and door handles,” Nachmann said.

People don’t need to use plastic utensils when they are sick. Putting forks, knives, spoons and plates in a dishwasher should protect others from contracting the virus.

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Elwood-John H. Glenn High School varsity boys soccer team earned numerous accolades and awards at the Suffolk County Soccer Coaches Association’s All-Star Awards Banquet. Photo courtesy of Elwood School District

It was a year of achievements and accolades for John Glenn High School’s varsity boys soccer team. Extending far past their 2024 fall season, the Knights went 13-2-1, earning league and county championships, the No. 1 Class A playoff seed, and a ranking of seventh in New York State.

Elwood-John H. Glenn High School senior goalkeeper Tyler Ziminski won the Bill Lown Small School Player of the Year award at the the Suffolk County Soccer Coaches Association’s All-Star Awards Banquet. Photo courtesy of Elwood School District

At the Suffolk County Soccer Coaches Association (SCSCA) All-Star Awards Banquet in December, goalkeeper Tyler Ziminski won the Bill Lown Small School Player of the Year award and was named All-Conference, All-County, All-State, All-Region (a first in school history), the SCSCA’s Exceptional Senior in the All-Star Game, and League VIII MVP and Keeper of the Year. Ziminski, a senior, finished the season with an incredible 13 shutouts, raising his career total to 30.

Also earning All-Conference honors were three juniors: forward Cooper Kassan, forward Isaac Perez, and midfielder Jake Piacentini. Two defenders, junior Peter Bell and senior James Mossey, earned All-League designation. Senior Davin Li was named Academic All-County and a News 12 Scholar-Athlete. Eli Tyll, Matthew Riberic, and Sam Voege won John Glenn’s Coaches Award, with Tyll earning the SCSCA’s Captain Alex Fyfe Courage Award.

The superlative efforts of the team’s staff were also recognized. Head coach Lou Hanner won Suffolk County’s John Eden Small School Coach of the Year award, and assistant coach Chris Riley was named United Soccer Coaches 2024 East Region High School Assistant Coach of the Year. Additionally, Hanner, Riley, and assistant coach Don O’Brien were named League Coaching Staff of the Year.

“We just had an incredible year,” Hanner said. “The kids did fantastic. We’ve been really close to winning the county title before; we’ve been to the semifinals 10 of the last 12 years, so to finally win it was special.”

“What a fantastic year for this team,” Athletic Director Dave Shanahan said. “The coaching staff and student-athletes made us proud with their exceptional season. Their postseason honors are well deserved. Congratulations to Coach Hanner, his staff, and all of the postseason award winners.”

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File photo by Raymond Janis

LIRR funding shortfall

LIRR commuters should be concerned about insufficient funds being programmed to bring bridges, viaducts, tunnels and other basic infrastructure that are in poor or marginal condition up to a state of good repair in the proposed MTA $68.4 billion 2025-2029 Five Year Capital Plan.  This also applies to Metro North Rail Road and NYC Transit.  It is questionable if $600 million is sufficient funding for LIRR critical infrastructure projects under the proposed next Five Year Capital Plan. Can this eliminate the growing backlog of critical infrastructure repair.  Too many critical capital assets remain in daily service beyond their anticipated useful life. There is still a $33 billion shortfall to fully fund the proposed upcoming Five Year Capital Plan.

Safety, state of good repair, reliable on time performance with a minimum of service disruptions at a fair price should be a higher priority than system expansion projects.  The $7.7 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, $5.5 billion Queens Brooklyn Light Rail Inter Boro Express and $3.1 billion Metro North Bronx East Penn Station Access projects all need to be put on hold.  Funding for all three would be better spent on critical infrastructure projects benefiting over 4 million NYC Transit subway, 200,000 plus LIRR and 200,000 plus Metro North daily commuters.  MTA Chairman Janno Lieber and MTA Board members have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the interests of riders and taxpayers.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Keep those letters coming…

Congratulations to my fellow 2024 Letter to the Editor writers.  Surveys reveal that “Letters To The Editor” is one of the most widely read and popular sections of newspapers.   

Most newspapers will print letters submitted by any writer regardless of where they live so long as the topic is relevant to readers.  

It helps to have a snappy introduction, good hook, be timely, precise, have an interesting or different viewpoint to increase your odds of publication. Papers welcome letters commenting on their own editorials, articles or previously published letters to the editor.

I’m grateful that TBR News Media affords both me and my fellow letter writers the opportunity to express our views, as well as differing opinions on issues of the day.  

Please join me along with your neighbors in reading TBR News Media.  Patronize their advertisers; they provide the revenues necessary to keep them in business. This helps pay to provide space for your favorite or not so favorite letter writers.

Larry Penner

Long Time Reader 

and Frequent Letter Writer

Great Neck

Armed guards aren’t the answer

As has become the norm in the Three Village Central School District members of the community have discovered a cause to champion that needn’t be raised.  Now that the start time phenomenon has become a budget-contingent coming attraction, armed guards in our schools are the latest call to action.  A knee-jerk reaction to an unfortunate, yet thankfully harmless, incident at Ward Melville High School this past fall, has been the demand to arm our security guards.  The reasoning behind this charge is the all too familiar claim that “the only way to fight a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Decades of research by the highest and most well-trained law enforcement agencies in the country have debunked this “theory” and proven that many times the presence of armed guards in school settings has invited and/or intensified the violence committed.  Anyone with recollection of the atrocities in Uvalde and Parkland knows firsthand that armed security did nothing to deter the perpetrator and no lives were saved.  As a mother and an educator there is nothing more important than safety in school buildings and I would never begrudge any parent the feeling of security when a child is in an academic setting.  However, there are myriad other approaches to avoiding threats to our children today and they do not include arming security guards. 

The pushback will of course be the previously noted adage about fighting a bad guy with a good guy gun, especially since many of the guards are former law enforcement officers.  None of the crusaders of this battle are willing to note the fact that we are actually very lucky.  Long Island has fortuitously been spared any instances of mass gun violence in our schools.  And the one scary instance that Three Village experienced was handled responsibly and transparently.  Yes, a gun entered our high school.  Yes, there was a chance something horrific could have occurred, but it didn’t.  The true concern is that a weapon came through the doors.  The best defense against a repeat situation is a system of detection (and not metal detectors) not an addition of guns.  

At this juncture we need to trust that our district security experts have the best interests of our children at heart and will continue to keep them safe.  Guns in and/or around our schools is not the answer.

Stefanie Werner

East Setauket

The opinions of columnists and letter writers are their own. They do not speak for the newspaper.

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. 

Email letters to: [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

 

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2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
Ava DeMarco and Sandra Clarke try to corral loose ball on Dec. 30. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
Claire Fitpatrick wrestles for ball with Westhampton Beach star Sandra Clarke on Saturday, Jan. 4. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
Claire Fitpatrick drives to the basket vs. Sachem East on Saturday, Jan. 4. Photo by Steve Zaitz
2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament. Photo by Steve Zaitz
Meg Ronan turns the corner vs. Sachem East on Saturday, Jan. 4. Photo by Steve Zaitz

By Steve Zaitz

Northport High School rang out the old and rang in the new, by hosting the week-long 2024 Suffolk County Holiday Tournament.

Westhampton Beach survived and advanced to win the tournament championship, and in what may be a preview of the 2024 county final, they beat reigning Suffolk champs Walt Whitman by a score of 48-38 on Jan. 4.

The eight-team interconference extravaganza spanned three weekends and featured 12 thrilling games between Northport, Whitman, Sachem East, Huntington, Longwood, Westhampton Beach, Commack and Bay Shore. Despite winning two games, Northport lost in the north bracket final Dec. 30 to the eventual champion Hurricanes in overtime when WBH star guard Sandra Clarke hit a long three-point shot at the buzzer to end the game. The final score was 52-49.

On Dec. 27, the Lady Tigers beat Bay Shore in the opening round 53-41 as senior forward Claire Fitzpatrick poured in 22 points and sophomore point guard Ava DeMarco scored 16. That same evening, Westhampton knocked off Commack 49-43 to earn a chance to play — and beat — the hometown Tigers when Clarke made her buzzer beater.

In the south bracket, Whitman beat Sachem East 47-40, and then Huntington in the second round 50-41, but were dealt their first loss of the year in the tournament championship game, as Clarke had 19 points and 7 steals against the Lady Wildcats. Westhampton improved to 8-1 overall, while Whitman dropped to 9-1.

In the consolation games also Jan. 4, Huntington beat Commack 44-38 to improve to 8-3 overall under first-year head coach Perry Marinelli, who was an assistant coach at Northport for many years. Commack, who lost to Whitman in the Suffolk championship game in 2023, falls to 6-3. Bay Shore outscored Longwood 8-2 in overtime and won 56-50 in their consolation match, and after a slow start Northport cruised to a 54-41 victory over Sachem East. Fitzpatrick had 25 points as of the week ending Jan. 5 and is seventh in the league in scoring with 18.1 points a game. Clarke is 10th at 16.9.

Conference play will resume Jan. 10 for Northport when they travel to Newfield. Their remaining nine games will all be Conference III matchups, except for their annual Coaches vs. Cancer game against Whitman to be held Jan. 25. Huntington resumed their season at home against Newfield, winning 68-32.  

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The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory in effect until 10 p.m. this evening, Jan. 9, with northwest winds of 20-30MPH with gusts up to 50MPH.

Impacts of strong winds can result in downed tree limbs and power outages, and unsecured objects can be blown around and or damaged. Take precaution and prepare! Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles- please use extra caution!

For Suffolk County Click here for a list of facilities that may be activated as Warming Centers during an excessive cold event as determined by the National Weather Service. During excessive cold conditions, review the operating hours and call before you go or make a referral, to make sure the location is open. Below is a current list of warming centers open at this time.

Clark Gillies Dix Hills Ice Rink

575 Vanderbilt Pkwy, Dix Hills

10:00 am – 10:00 pm

(There are no ice rink activities for those utilizing the warming center)

John J. Flanagan Huntington Senior Center

423 Park Ave, Huntington

Open Monday – Friday Only

10:00 am – 4:00 pm

The Department of Social Services is proactively reaching out to vulnerable populations to assess their needs and provide assistance. Additional staff are on hand to support these efforts. The number for any emergency housing is 631-854-9930. For emergency services (After 4:30 PM & Weekends, Holidays): (631) 854-9100.  If you have any questions or concerns reach out to Suffolk County by calling their non-emergency number at 311.

 

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

It’s hard to come up with a short list of the pros or cons of skiing. The experience, with everything from getting there, to being there, to trekking home, is filled with, if you’ll pardon the pun, ups and downs.

I’d like to share a few observations from our recent venture to the slopes.

For starters, just being in the mountains is extraordinary. The air is fresh, clear and clean and the views of snow-capped peaks and valleys are inspiring. Of course, you have to get to those mountains, which can require anything from a long drive to a flight filled with challenges and delays.

On a recent trip, our flight to those magnificent mountains involved sitting in a row on the plane that was exceedingly hot. When I asked the flight attendant why the plane was so warm, she explained that we were likely sitting near the engines.

The way home was no picnic either, because those wonderful winter storms that bring snow caused us to have a five hour delay, coupled with another hot ride home that suggested that the entire plane must have been sitting too close to the engines. Other passengers complained that they were wearing tank tops and jeans and sweat through their pants.

Back to the positive, the chairlift experience often is an opportunity to meet interesting and compelling people during a short but jovial journey. In one such conversation, I met a precocious nine-year old boy named Stephen, who told me he and his family, including his mother with whom we rode the lift, had recently visited London and Paris. He said he liked the food better in Paris, but that the food in London had improved over the years.

“And how would you know that?” his flabbergasted and amused mother asked. 

He shrugged.

“My mom travels a lot for her work, so she’s not always around,” Stephen said. “Sometimes, we get to go with her to fun places, though.” That statement seemed to offer an interesting window into the dynamic in their household.

Those chair lift rides, however, can take longer to board and to ride than expected. The lifts can  stop at inopportune times, near a snow gun that blankets skiers and snowboarders with snow we’d prefer were beneath our feet rather than trickling down our necks. Other times, people on those lifts swing their legs back and forth, making me feel as if I’m on someone else’s suspended rocking chair.

On a trip down the slopes, the speed and movement can be exhilarating. The swishing sound of the snow and the speed of the wind, without any mechanical noise from an engine, can allow us to experience the world at higher speeds, as the sound of rushing air and sliding skis combine to form a whispering symphony. At the bottom, our tired but rejuvenated muscles can relive the excitement from our self-directed ride.

We are not the only ones on the slopes and, while we might enjoy the thrill of a high speed run, we may also brace ourselves for the possibility that other skiers or snowboarders might push themselves beyond their limits. We could become bowling pins on a mountain, as others lose control, barrel into us and knock us down.

In the moment, the great unknown over the next plateau presents the opportunity to anticipate and embrace the terrain ahead. Perhaps the untrodden snow just past the peak has perfectly packed powder, the mogul (or bump, in modern parlance) is the right height and dimensions to catch some air, or the width and steepness of the slopes is exactly as we imagine when we dream of the ideal slope.

The other side of that peak, however, may have thin cover, with grass or even exposed rock, while someone may have taken a spill just beyond what we can see, turning them into obstacles we have to avoid.

While the pieces of equipment makes it possible for us to traverse snow covered mountains deftly, they are not designed for everyday maneuvering. Walking through a parking lot in ski boots can be torture for our shins, which may take days or more to forgive us for our skiing indulgence.

And, finally, the weather can offer the kind of glorious sunshine that transports us into an Ansel Adams poster or inserts us into picture postcard, with light shimmering off the tops of mountains, causing snow covered trees to glow. Then again, Mother Nature doesn’t care how much you spent on lift tickets and is perfectly happy to throw wind, rain, sleet and snow at you from every direction.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

They weren’t really New Year’s resolutions but rather goals I set out for myself during the holidays when the office would be closed and we would be on a staycation. Did I meet them? Even though I was ill with a nasty upper respiratory infection for the entire time off, I did manage to accomplish the desired result.

What were they? I wanted to read two unusual books, recommended by The New York Times, over the 10 day period. And I did.

Now that may not sound like such a challenge to most people, but my reading, because of my job, is to keep up with the news. After all, I am a newspaper publisher and newspapers provide the first draft of history

So reading books, for me, is a luxury, and I’d like to tell you what two books I read because I found them engaging and would, in turn, readily recommend them. One was the beautifully written, “Horse,” by Pulitzer-prize winning author, Geraldine Brooks. I should tell you that my favorite reads are historical fiction and biographies. Those are, for me, effortless ways to learn history and any other subject with which the characters are involved.

“Horse” is indeed about a four-legged animal named Lexington, probably the most famous American racehorse in our history, who lived in the mid-1800s and about art. The horse is the literary device that ties the characters, who live in three different centuries, together. Some of them live before and after the Civil War, some in mid-century 1900s and the rest in the 2019. With that temporal range, Brooks touches on key themes: class, race, regional cultures, war, and the intelligence and loyalty of animals. The book, to a remarkable extent, is based on real people, as evidenced by the extensive research provided by the author in the coda called, “Lexington’s Historical Connections,” and it has a riveting plot.

Now I happen to love horses, always did from my earliest memories, when I was enchanted by the horses and riders on the trail in Central Park and begged to join them. I believe that’s a passion handed down through our genes. My mother’s father, I was told, was something of a horse whisperer, and my father was persuaded to take time from his work, something he almost never did, and accompany me one afternoon on a horseback ride through the park when I was about six years old. Since he had grown up on a farm, riding was familiar for him, although he did ask the stableman where we rented the horses if he could ride bareback rather than on what he called the “postage stamp” English saddle. The groom leading out the horses for us was stunned. Surprisingly he let us ride away toward the park.

But back to the book. It is not only the tale of the remarkable horse that engages the reader of this beautifully written novel. It is the rendering of the time and place in which each character lives, the deftly drawn personalities of the people who populate the stories, the challenges and tensions of their times, and ultimately how much and also how little times have changed.

And if you are an animal lover, the true heroes of the book are the animals.

The second book, which I happened to read first, was “The Wildes,” by Louis Bayard. While it doesn’t have the runaway narrative of “Horse,” it is more of a look back in time at the way Victorian England viewed homosexuality. The theme is developed through the lives of Oscar Wilde’s wife, Constance, and two sons. We meet them half a dozen years before his infamous trial in London, when they seem to be living a luxurious and loving pastoral existence. He is highly regarded as a famous author, playwright and witty companion, and she is involved in feminist causes.  Enter the aristocratic young poet, Lord Alfred Douglas, and the reality of life at that time begins to change the narrative. Ultimately it is Douglas’s provocative father, who causes Wilde to sue for libel, throwing his life open to titillating and legal inspection that brings ruin to the whole family.

The book is both witty for its clever dialogue and sad for all the shadows it reveals about the Wildes, society at the end of the 19th century, and what might have been in modern times.

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The flag at the Centereach Post Office flies at half staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 6. Photo by Heidi Sutton

To honor former President Jimmy Carter’s death on Dec. 29, 2024, President Joe Biden announced that all U.S post offices will be closed on Thursday, Jan. 9. Carter was 100 when he died at his home in Plains, Georgia. The funeral for the country’s 39th president will be held on Thursday, and the federal government will be closed to honor the National Day of Mourning. As a result of the post offices’ closure, our paper will be mailed on Friday,  Jan 10.

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